


Truth is On My Skin

by Argentee



Series: The Symbol of Your Soul [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, How Do I Tag, Maria Stark Lives, Peggy Carter Lives, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Steggyweek 2k18, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-17
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-06-12 07:22:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15334779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Argentee/pseuds/Argentee
Summary: Steve Rogers wakes up in the Future, told that everyone he knows is dead. But Shield has been lying to him from the moment he woke up, and Peggy's mark is still on his skin.A Soulmark AU where your mate bears a mark symbolizing you on your skin, that colors in when you finally meet.Now complete, though un-beta'd. Please comment with any errors so I can correct them.Prequels to this story are planned.





	1. Welcome to SHIELD

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! A brief explanation of how soulmarks work in this Universe is at the end of the chapter as they contain minor spoilers for chapter one.

Steve never expected to wake up after crashing the Valkyrie, so he had not expected to dream. The images were distant, distorted in the way of nightmares, and too many of them involved Peggy in danger. When he woke in the fake hospital room, the fear of his dreams was only amplified. The sheets felt wrong, the air smelled wrong, the game on the radio was one he had gone to with Bucky before the war. Running out of the room, fighting his way out of the building, he found himself surrounded by armed men, in a city both familiar and horribly different.

Steve let himself be guided back by Fury into the building. He might have been able to fight his way past that many men, but not without his shield, and not without civilian casualties. If they opened fire on him, innocent people would be hurt, and he had no idea what the rifles they were carrying could do.

Fury led him to an office, and closed the door. It was better lit than he was used to, more steel, less wood. But still an office, still built to intimidate underlings. Steve stood at ease in front of the desk, staring off into the distance, seemingly looking at nothing as he absorbed the details. Fury settled into the chair, “Have a seat, soldier. I’m Directory Fury, the year is twenty eleven, and a lot has changed.”

Steve sat, but didn’t meet Fury’s gaze. He had no reason to trust this man, and the less he said the better. Peggy’s lessons in interrogation ran through his mind. The silence stretched further, past the point of being uncomfortable.

Fury broke the silence first, dropping a pile of file folders onto the desk marked with the names of the Howling Commandos. “I wish I had better news, but seventy years is a long time. Many of your friends did have long lives and families.” 

Steve flipped through the files, every one of them was marked deceased, even Peggy’s. He felt his gut twist in a knot, that had to be another lie. Peggy was his soulmate, he would feel it if she was dead. His mother had described the echoing emptiness where his father’s soulbond had been and he felt nothing like that. “Did… did Peggy ever marry?” The file said she hadn’t, but he was flipping through the pages faster than a normal person could read. He’d have to mentally review them later, try to recreate them even if he didn’t trust them.

Fury said in a heavy voice, “No, no she did not. About a decade after she and Howard Stark founded SHIELD...” Steve briefly made eye contact, a questioning look, and Fury expanded on the name. “Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. We took over where the SSR left off after the war. Captain, you’ve been through a lot. SHIELD is glad to help you, we can see about getting your back pay. Get you settled in an apartment and up to date with modern technology. Your soulmark is a modern handgun, you were always meant to be here. Once we have you up to date, you’ll have a chance to serve your country again, and make a new life for yourself.”

Steve smiled, a timid aw-shucks grin he had perfected on girls during the USO Tour. “After seventy years I’m not sure how much use I will be, sir, but thank you for the offer of help. I’ll probably need a lot of it.”

But not from Fury or from SHIELD. Not if they were trying to convince him that Peggy was dead. The model of the gun on his shoulder may have changed, but he had no doubt it was still Peggy’s finger on the trigger.

As soon as he was settled into a room in SHIELD headquarters that evening, Steve headed into the bathroom for a shower. He stripped in front of the mirror, his eyes glancing over the soulmark on his shoulder, before stepping into the shower.

The SSR had never allowed his soulmark to be photographed, and the documents on him only ever referred to it as a handgun. Even those were heavily classified. For publicity during the war, it was better if women could imagine their own mark somewhere on his body. And the possibility of a spy trying to color his mark in with ink while he was incapacitated and convince him that it had activated had been discussed more than once.

Most people had marks that it was obvious when they flooded with color, roses turning red or white or pink, birds coloring in brown or blue. The symbol was a promise that there was someone waiting for them, the color on meeting proof that the promise had been fulfilled. Steve’s mark had always been a handgun. Bucky… Steve turned his face up into the spray at the memory of his friend, letting the water blasting him hide any tears. Bucky had teased him constantly about Steve’s soulmate being a pistol, a straight shooter, a… well, every gun pun that his mind could come up with. When he had met Peggy, the barely sketched outline had filled in with glorious detail. But guns tended to be, well, grey or blackened steel unless the grip or stock was wood or otherwise fancied up. And Steve had been colorblind before Project Rebirth. The sketchpad on Peggy’s upper arm had been just an outline of a pile of paper before they met. Afterwards, the top sheet had been filled in with an intricate sketch of one of Steve’s favorite spots in Central Park, carefully shaded in black and white and grey. Steve was an artist, but he avoided working in color due to his colorblindness, and his mark reflected that.

So with both of their marks being in shades of black and grey even after being matched, it was easier to let people assume they were still unmatched. Safer for them both. Safer for any idiots who might have suggested it was better for Captain America’s girl to wait safely at home. 

When the water started to run cold, Steve turned it off and stepped out of the shower. He had, well, not a plan, but the start of one. Learn about the future he found himself in. Get away from SHIELD. Find Peggy.

He’d done more with less.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some Soulmate Rules for this AU. These may not be universally known by the characters.
> 
> Soulmarks appear when your soulmate has an idea of themselves as a person. This means pairs don't always have each other's marks, and when a mark appears is no guide to how old your soulmate is. This is the least understood rule in-universe.
> 
> Blanks are not rare, not hated, and it's not thought of as permanent. Most people think that not having a mark yet just means the time isn't right yet.
> 
> If a person changes enough, the mark changes. 'Enough' varies depending on person and mark. So if your mark is your favorite handgun (like Peggy's) and your favorite handgun changes, the mark changes. Most changes are subtle. But if you go from defining yourself as the world's greatest surgeon to defining yourself as the world's greatest sorcerer (ie Dr Strange) then there is NOTHING subtle about the change.
> 
> When you meet your soulmate, their mark on you 'colors in'. For most people this means actual color. However if the mark is something without color (a gun, a sketchpad of pencil drawings, the moon, zebra longwing butterfly, etc) instead you get more detail and shading. Pure black and white marks are very, very rare and make it easy to miss your match. Most people don't even realize this kind of coloring without color is possible.


	2. No plan survives first engagement with the enemy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shield is there to help Steve through his adjustment to modern life. But with friends like these, who needs enemies?

The weeks that followed had Steve ruefully thinking that if SHIELD had underestimated him, he had also underestimated them. He was living in a SHIELD dorm, eating in the SHIELD cafeteria, and every moment of his day was scheduled and observed. 

Waking in the morning, he was greeted by a trainer as soon as he put foot out the door and escorted to the gym. Supposedly the training was to get his body back up to the condition it was in before the ice. Steve suspected the real purpose was to wear him out and take readings. Everything seemed to have electronics in it, even the punching bags as he discovered when he accidently broke one.

He started ‘accidently’ breaking a whole lot more equipment, especially the treadmills. Each time he would give the trainer his best guilty and apologetic look. Only his mother and Bucky had ever been immune to that look. Bucky claimed it was because he knew what a little shit Steve really was, and his Ma, well, mothers just knew. Mrs Barnes had never fallen for Bucky’s attempts to charm his way out of trouble either.

Then breakfast in the cafeteria, but they never gave him money and there were no prices on anything. Instead they scanned his ID card, weighed his food, and waved him on through. Having no money and no idea of what anything cost made his odds in the outside world that much slimmer. No one sat near him except his instructors, so he pretended to be intensely focused on his food and just observed, listening to conversations on the other side of the room, watching them interact with the slender rectangles that telephones had somehow evolved into.

Heavy exercise followed by a heavy breakfast made a body want to nap, but an instructor was always waiting to escort him off to a classroom. There he was forced to stay awake for lessons that somehow managed to give both too much and not enough information at the same time. There were endless lists of conflicts, dates, and locations to memorize but little or no explanation of the reasons behind the wars. New technologies were mentioned, and there might be pictures of them in books, but they were never demonstrated in the classroom.

Classroom time was followed by working on updating his knowledge of small unit tactics, usually through hands on training. New technology was demonstrated here, very briefly, before he was expected to lead a small unit using it, or more often defend against a small unit all by himself. 

Lunch repeated the pattern set by breakfast: a large meal, instructors waiting to lead him off to a classroom where facts would be thrown at him again, this time focusing on American History instead of World History. Class time was followed by hand to hand combat training, with three trainers either taking turns working with him or ganging up against him. That was followed by an even larger dinner, and then finally he was allowed to return to his room for some free time. Once there he collapsed on to the couch and turned the TV to a channel that seemed to specialize in children’s programming, and let his eyes drift mostly closed.

He was sure there was someone watching him, even in his room. Probably electronically, since everything was electronic these days. But the important part was that whomever was watching saw him slumped and exhausted, instantly falling asleep in front of the television. He knew from overhearing people in the cafeteria that tired people did this, and it wasn’t particularly restful. But he only needed about four hours sleep, and watching the children’s programs helped update his views of the modern world. Ok, it was a simplified and distorted view, made appealing to children through cartoon dogs and fuzzy puppets, but that was all to the good for the moment. And they didn’t need much brain power to watch, so he could spend time going over what he really learned over the course of the day, tagging names to faces and adding to his mental map of the building. 

Then he would pretend to wake up, turn off the TV, and stagger to bed where he would dream of Peggy. Her hair was different; her clothes modern, and there were faint lines of worry around her eyes. In the dreams they wandered through streets he didn’t recognize and corridors he did, looking for each other but never quite meeting up.

Then he would awake to the obnoxious buzz of the alarm clock going off, and the pattern would repeat all over again. 

They never called him a prisoner, but they never let him in a room with a window. He never caught a glimpse of a window unless they were above the fifteenth floor, and then it was only out of the corner of his eye as someone emerged from a distant room. They never gave him a day off, though the teachers traded out so presumably they were getting to rest. As days rolled into weeks, Steve started acting more distant. Harder. His teachers tried to hide their reactions, but he could tell a few were worried. Others were pleased.

This pace would have worn down a normal man; but for the first time that he could remember, he was getting enough to eat every day. The injuries in training were minor, nothing compared to the blood loss and broken bones he regularly suffered at the front. Sooner or later they’d want him in the field, or they’d make a mistake and give him an opening. And when the time came, he’d be ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos are greatly appreciated! It may be a few days before the next update, and I might have to update some tags...


	3. Out of the Frying Pan...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve finally gets out of the SHIELD base they've been keeping him in! Of course, it's because they want him to fight a homicidal maniac who wants to conquer Earth. 
> 
> Enter the Avengers!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now begins the part that overlaps with the Avenger's movie. I'd planned on doing the whole movie as a single chapter, but then the water line to my house broke, so my day off is going to be spent digging up the yard and replacing pipes instead of writing.
> 
> So I wrote up to what felt like a good breaking point, and I'm giving you at least that much.

Steve was down in one of the basement gyms, working his way through a series of punching bags, when Fury walked in. Steve threw a final punch, splitting seams and sending the bag across the room as the chain gave way. “Director. Didn’t expect to see you down here. Are you here with a mission, sir?”

Fury answered simply, “I am.” And handed over a manila folder.

Steve flipped it open to see an image of the Tesseract. “Hydra’s secret weapon.”

“Howard fished that out of the ocean while looking for you. He thought, what we think, that the Tesseract could be the key to unlimited sustainable energy.” There was no change in Fury’s expression, but Steve caught a slight hesitation in Fury’s voice. Another lie. He flipped through the file, only getting a few pages before Fury extended his hand to take it back.

Steve kept his expression respectful as he handed it back. He doubted a spy agency wanted unlimited energy to run vacuum cleaners or light Christmas trees. “Who took it from you?”

Fury’s mouth gave a little downward twitch, “His name is Loki. He’s… not from around here. There’s a debriefing packet waiting in your quarters if you’re in.”

Steve swung the punching bag over his shoulder, hauling it off toward the pile near the door. “I’m in.”

“Is there anything you can tell us about the Tesseract we should know?”

"You should have left it in the Ocean."

The 'packet' wasn't paper, but one of the new high-tech tablets. Steve showered quickly, dressed, and then began scanning the files they gave him. Natasha Romanov, aka Black Widow, SHIELD Agent, possibly compromised by the fact that Loki had mind-controlled her soulmate. Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, self-destructive, narcissistic, prone to compulsive behaviors. Bruce Banner, aka The Hulk, a failed attempt at recreating the super soldier serum who when angry turned into a mindless creature of destruction. 

This wasn't a team. This was a collection of misfits thrown together to save the world. He was suppose to make them into a team. And if he failed, well, then SHIELD would have the excuse need to deny him further field work and use him as a labrat. If there was a world left. "No pressure, Rogers," he murmurs to himself.

During the flight he continued to review the files. Agent Coulson seemed nice, he had a bit of the awe that some of the kids showed during the War Bond tour. It was odd in a man older than himself, much less in an agent. The new uniform was darker than his old one, better armored. He feels like he can move well in it, despite the improved armor. But he’s had no chance to get used to it, to test it, and he was going to have to trust it in the field. 

Fighting Loki, the suit held up well, but Steve couldn’t dwell on that. For the first time since Schmidt, he was fighting someone as fast as him and possibly stronger than him. Ironman showed up announced by a blare of music, and to his surprise Loki immediately surrendered.

Onboard the aircraft, Loki sat remarkably subdued. 

Steve watched him warily. “I don’t like it.”

Stark had removed his helmet and carefully avoided making eye contact with Steve, while his fingers tapped restlessly against the side of his leg closest to Steve. Three fingers spread for a W. It was possible he was using the signals the Howling Commandos had come up with for when under observation, signaling that we’re being watched. “That he gave up so easily?”

Steve tapped an acknowledgement. “It wasn’t that easy. He packs a wallop.”

Stark tapped his middle finger. Act Hostile. “You’re pretty spry for an older guy. What’s your secret? Pilates?”

Steve glared at Stark and hoped it was convincing. That Stark had been taught the old codes, that he might be an ally against SHEILD was almost too much to hope. When Stark quipped about there being a lot of things Fury doesn’t tell him, he signaled that Fury wasn’t trustworthy. Steve looked nervously about the small cabin. Before he could take the chance to ask for help, lightning began to strike around the small plane.

Then a figure forces the rear of the plane open and snatches away Loki, and Iron man leapt out of the plane to follow. Steve recognized Loki’s brother Thor from the files. By the time he parachuted down and was able to run up to the pair, Thor and Ironman were talking.

Stark’s helmet was off, “Thor, this is Steve Rogers, better known as Captain America. Dr Selvig is a friend of Thor’s. He’s going to help us get our people and the Tesseract back.”

Thor was another unknown, but he wasn’t SHIELD’s unknown and right then that was enough for Steve. “Welcome to the team, Thor.” 

When the plane landed nearby, Thor picked up Loki to carry him back on board. Stark hung back, eyeing Steve. “I know some people who would love to catch up with you. Maybe we can meet up in Central Park when this is over.”

Steve’s heart took a leap in his chest. Did Stark know about Peggy’s mark? “I’d love to, but last time I tried to go outside, SHIELD had a dozen men with rifles ready to shoot me. They haven’t let me even be in the same room as a window since then.”

Stark frowned. “That’s not right. Stick close to me but play it hostile.”

Steven looked sideways at Stark, grinning for a brief second before putting his best disapproving face back on. “A punk who jumps into dangerous situations with no regard for his personal safety? What could we possibly have in common?”

Behind him, Stark murmured “sarcastic little shit” in what sounded like amused approval. And for the first time in weeks, Steven felt the warm glow of hope in his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, some time lines I’ve read put it in as little as three weeks between when Steve awakens and when the Avengers takes place. Some of the changes are small, there is no bet between Fury and Steve because Steve doesn’t have $10 to bet. Others are larger. There’s not a huge fight between Thor and Ironman, because Tony doesn’t attack Thor right off, and asks not just for the Cube, but for Selvig and Barton.
> 
> I'm trying to skim over the movie, because we've all seen it and you don't need me to (badly) repeat the whole script, while posting enough that you can see where the differences are.
> 
> Still not sure what tags I should add... Holding off on updating a few, because... spoilers.


	4. ... Into the Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back from intermission, we now bring you the second reel of the Avengers (AU style)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My house has water again, but that ate up all of last weekend and a convention ate up all of this weekend. Still, I posted before midnight local time, so it counts, right?
> 
> Chapter warnings for...well, for anything that happened in the Avengers Movie.
> 
> Still not Beta'd

The quinjet landed on what Black Widow referred to as a helicarrier, and Steve felt something tighten in his gut. Escaping from the SHIELD office in New York would have been hard enough. Escaping from an aircraft carrier in the middle of the ocean would be damn near impossible. When the helicarrier slowly took to the air, the tightness in his gut went icy and he nearly missed Doctor Banner joking about what a bad idea this was. Loki was taken by his brother to a cell, while the others were herded off to the bridge. 

Watching Fury on the screen confront Loki was disturbing. SHIELD claimed to be on the side of angels, but that cell had been built not just to hold the Hulk, but to drop him into the depths of the ocean. A cell designed for imprisonment without a trial at best. At worst, it would leave whomever was inside at the bottom of the water, crushed by pressure, dying of thirst and hunger, unable to escape and it would hold a supersoldier such as himself as easily as the Hulk.

Tony was being snarky and inappropriate, flashy and distracting. No one but Steve seemed to notice Tony reaching under one of the desks, and Steve carefully kept his eyes on the screen to not give him away. People saw the uniform, they saw the Captain America of the propaganda reels; they didn’t see Steve Rogers, the runt from Brooklyn and Steve was going to use the hell out of that.

In the lab, he traded barbs with Stark, each of them carefully tapping apologies against their legs out of line of sight of the cameras in the corners of the room. Stark was into the computer systems, looking for what SHIELD was up to, and if Stark was willing to take that risk, then how could Steve do less? He stormed out of room, a scowl on his face. No one wanted to talk to a man his size who was looking like a thunderstorm, and for once he had no guards. After all, where could he run to? 

While people were determinedly not looking his way, he lifted an id badge off of a passing agent, attached it to his belt with the photo facing in, and went exploring. Half glimpsed images from screens on the bridge gave him a place to start. Eventually the search turned up secured store rooms with wooden crates, burned with the insignia of Hydra. A quiet rage burned through him as he opened a crate to find an energy rifle, like those Hydra used in the war. Those rifles had been horrific, killing with a single shot and not even leaving a body behind to bury. Slipping the stolen badge into a waist pouch in case he needed it again, he stalked back to the lab where Stark and Banner were working.

Stark was asking Fury, “What is Phase Two?” as he entered.

“Phase two is SHIELD uses the Tesseract to make weapons.” Steve gave Stark an apologetic smile. “Sorry. The computer was taking too long.”

Fury tried explain, “Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This doesn’t mean we were making weap-“

Tony interrupted, spinning around a display of some sort of missile. “I’m sorry, Nick. What were you lying?”

Black Widow entered the room, and tried to get Banner to leave, but when Banner demanded answers, Nick pointed at Thor, “Because of him. Last year Earth had a visitor from another planet-”

Rogers cut him off, “No, Fury. You’re not passing the buck on this one. Thor isn’t the first visitor to Earth, the SSR knew that back in my day. Both sides were looking for artifacts that could give an advantage in the war. This is more of the same.” He turned his gaze to Romanoff, “And if things are getting stressful in here for Banner, maybe you and Fury should step outside the lab. We can discuss this two on one if you want. Doctor Banner, you and Stark should continue working on locating the cube.”

Romanoff protested, “Loki’s planning on using the Hulk against us.” 

Steven gave her a look, “Then don’t provoke Banner into becoming the Hulk.” He looked over at Fury, “And don’t play divide and conquer with my team to avoid questions you don’t like.”

Fury glared at him. “After being on the ice so long, I think you’re in no place to judge SHIELD's decisions.”

“Having been on the receiving end of those decisions, I think I’m in the perfect place to judge.” Steve feels the burn of anger at the fact that these two STILL haven’t left the lab.

Dr Banner’s voice comes from behind him, “We have a match. New York City.”

Steve grimaces at the thought of what Loki might be planning to do to his city, his home. “Widow, we need a jet. Thor –“ The thought was interrupted by an explosion ripping through the helicarrier. Steven turned back to Stark and Banner, “Dr Banner, grab your research. Ironman, suit up. Widow, get us that Quinjet!” Steve snatched up his shield and rushed to meet the boarders.

Battle was always chaos, but this was close-quarters with a team he hadn’t worked with before. They had made it to the flight deck when they took fire from two groups of attackers and the Hulk emerged with a roar. Hulk tore into the attackers like a freight train, which would have been an asset if SHIELD hadn’t decided to open fire on the HULK as well. Then the Helicarrier lost an engine, and Fury called for their help over the coms.

Stark was able to restart the engine, with Steve and Thor providing brute force assistance. Natasha recovered Barton. In the chaos, Loki escaped. Coulson died.

Fury tried to call them on the carpet, but Steven was having none of it. “Despite knowing that Loki had mind controlled SHIELD agents, you didn’t update your security protocols letting enemies on board. Despite knowing he had powers we can only term magic, you assumed that walls and a lock would hold him. My team was about to board a quinjet to go after the cube, and delayed to save the lives of everyone on this ship. Let’s hope that wasn’t a bad trade.” Steve let his eyes meet those of his team. “Let’s go.” And turned his back on Fury.

As they boarded the quinjet, Black Widow said quietly, “I thought you were supposed to be the perfect soldier?”

Steven gave a grim little smile. “Have you actually –read- my service record? The only reason the brass didn’t court martial me was because they didn’t want to be the one to court martial Captain America…” That brought a brief chuckle from Stark.

Unfortunately, they arrive in New York in time to see a hole ripped in the sky, and an alien army pour out of it. Fighting Nazis in the streets of New York had been a recurring nightmare of Steve’s during the war. After this, he would have a whole new set. Bruce joined them, turning to the Hulk to help smash. Ironman took Hawkeye to the rooftops, then called out movement over the coms. 

Barton’s voice came across the channel, “There’s another sniper up here, and I’m running low on arrows…”

Stark replied, “I have eyes on the sniper. He’s a friendly.”

Whomever it was, was good. One shot, one kill, going for the more difficult headshots instead of worrying about the alien armor.

Steve lost track of Natasha in the fighting after she grabbed one of the alien flying machines. Eventually her voice came over the coms, “I can shut down the portal.”

“Hold off on that, Widow. We’ve got an incoming Nuke. And I know just where to put it.”

“Stark… you know that’s a one way trip…” Steve swallowed hard, watching as Ironman pushed the missile into a turn, and was carried with it through the wormhole. “Widow… give him time… 60 seconds, we can hold…” 

It was less than thirty when the Ironman armor fell back through the hole, and Widow closed the portal. “Shit, he’s falling…” Steve started to run, Thor started to swing his hammer, but before either could get far, the Hulk leapt, snatching Ironman from the sky and laying him on the ground. 

Thor pulled the mask off, and Steve’s heart sank at seeing Tony so still… then the Hulk roared, and Tony’s body jerked as he inhaled with a gasp. “What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos feed a writer's soul!
> 
> \----------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> Ok, a quick discussion of the chapter.
> 
> \- That Hulk proof cell always freaked me the hell out. It freaks Steven out too. It was designed to contain and then execute a super soldier such as the Hulk by containing them and dropping them from great height. 
> 
> -How did Steve locate weapons that should have been secured so easily? Eidetic memory, seeing things on the bridge, and having a soulmate who is a spy taught him a few things.
> 
> -Steve and Tony still snark at each other, but neither of them believes the other means it. The staff is still affecting them, the jabs land a little close to home, but they are a lot more hostile to Fury than each other. Steve going after Fury verbally and defending his team means they find the cube a little sooner, and the helicarrier battle goes a bit differently. It's not Thor that Loki tricks to get out of the cell, and with Thor helping with the fight to restart the engine, things go a bit faster there.
> 
> -There's an ally (or allies) in the Battle of New York not in the movie. Tony releases the missile closer to the portal entrance, falls back to Earth sooner.


	5. There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's time for the post credit scene! This is my longest chapter yet!
> 
> Once again, I don't have a beta reader, and I'm putting this up as fast as I write it. Any errors are mine. Any characters belong to Marvel. 
> 
> Even if Marvel does treat them horribly.
> 
> Please comment if you like my work or spot any typos/misspellings.

After Loki had been secured, with Thor's hammer pinning him in place of all things, Stark insisted on taking them all to a restaurant nearby for shawarma. It was a hole in the wall place, the owners sweeping up broken glass but more than glad to serve the exhausted team. The meat had been cooked in advance, thinly sliced, piled on some sort of flat bread with vegetables and sauce. It tasted good, but as exhausted and as ravenous as he was after a battle, Steve knew that almost anything would taste good.

Except hákarl. Never again.

As they finished, Stark addressed the small group. "Look, we're wiped, the cops and emergency teams are doing their job... the Tower's not fully furnished, but the guest rooms have showers with hot water, and sheets on the bed. You're all welcome. Bruce and I can cobble together a container to hold the Tesseract safely for transport back to Asgard."

Romanoff looked at Barton, then over at Steve. "We should report back to SHIELD.”

Steve said calmly, "I'm not going back." Romanoff and Barton both looked surprised for a moment, then guarded. Steve continued, "I never signed a contract with SHIELD, I was with the army, and that was for the duration of the war, plus five years... even when I agreed to Erskine's experiment, that was for ten years after the war, and the SSR had rights to my body if I died before the war ended. SHIELD has kept me there at gunpoint, since the first time I tried to escape, they won't let me even in the same room as a window. I'm not going to willingly walk back into a cage." 

Barton and Natasha both froze at that, their expressions didn't change but there was a sudden stillness about them. "We should talk back at the tower."

Stark rose. "Good idea." As they rose the owners came to clean off the table, and Stark spoke to them softly. Steve's hearing could hear him thanking the couple again, and asking if it would be alright if he sent some people over to buy food for the relief workers.

It was another way that Stark was nothing like the file SHIELD had given Steve. The man in the file had been a spoiled brat, only thinking of himself. As they walked the block or so back to the tower, Stark was on the com in his suit, talking to people, arranging his security to pick up food from the restaurant they just left and give it free to relief workers. Ordering someone else to call all the Stark Industries Employees in New York and make sure they were safe. Talking to someone named Pepper and someone else named Rhodey, assuring them he was safe.

Thor looked at Stark sadly, "I wish I could tell my Lady Jane that I was safe, but I do not know where she is or how to reach her." 

Stark frowned up at him, "We'll try to do something about that. She was friends with Dr Selvig, right? Maybe he or SHIELD will know how to reach her. What's her last name?"

Thor took this as an excuse to talk about his lady love, Jane Foster, who was an astrophysicist, a term Steve would have to look up later, and according to Thor, perfect. Thor singing her praises took the rest of the walk home, and the trip up the elevator. It stopped a few floors below where they had captured Loki. 

The area looked finished, if a bit bare. The floors were tiled and the walls cream, but there was no art or signs to distinguish one room from another. Toni threw open a door to what looked like a living room decorated in cream and sage. "Two bedroom suite. Figure Itsy-Bitsy and Legolas can double up." He opened the two doors on the opposite side of the hall, which showed slightly smaller living rooms. The first was decorated in cream and gold, the second in cream and beige. "Single bedroom suites. Pointbreak, Brucie-boy, figure neither of you wants to share. Spangles, you get the family guest room up on my floor. Howling Commandos reunions were the closest I had to family reunions growing up."

"Thank you, Tony." Steve was touched that Tony would treat him like family. They'd hardly met, and it hadn't been under the best of circumstances with SHIELD watching over their shoulder.

As they rode the elevator, Tony smiled awkwardly over at Steve. "You know, it would be real easy to hate you... Nothing I ever did was good enough for my father, and if I made a mistake, he would throw up how Captain America would never make a mistake like that, or would be disappointed in me, or some bullshit." They stepped out into the level below where they had captured Loki. It was undamaged by the battle, and looked like something out of a movie. Tony gave Steve a grin that reminded him of Bucky about to yank his chain. "Thankfully, I had Aunt Peggy telling me about Steve Rogers, who cheated at poker and drew Tijuana Bibles for a living before the army."

Steve was surprised by the laugh that came from his lips. He couldn't bring to mind the last time he laughed, "Not a lot of jobs for a scrawny kid with a bad back and asthma. Drawing two by fours helped pay the bills. And counting cards isn't cheating. It's math."

Tony laughed softly, "I count cards too. Aunt Peggy taught me." He opened the door to a suite, but this one was unlike the rest of the ultra-modern tower. The furniture was heavy wood, and looked comfortable. There were bookshelves of actual paper books. "Made this room for her to stay in when she visits. She... travels a lot."

Steve felt a rush of relief. "Do you know where Peggy is? Is she safe? SHIELD claimed she was dead... Died before you were even born. But she's my soulmate, and our mark..." He blushed a bit. People just didn't TALK about marks in his day. Not with people they had just met.

Tony waved his hand, "No, it's ok, Peggy told me her mark on you was her gun. Not a lot of color there, right? And she always insists on her personal gun being black metal, no wooden grip or fancywork, so yeah, SHIELD assumed it's a dormant mark and they fed you the standard lie... great founders of SHIELD, tragically dead. Aunt Peg from poison, my dad in a car wreck when I was sixteen. SHIELD, they're a bunch of lying liars that lie. Pegs says they're compromised, she doesn't know how bad, but it goes back far and it goes deep. She's got a few of her own people inside, but I don't know who they are, and it's safer that way for everyone."

Steve swallowed hard, "But I'm away from SHIELD and you'll help me find her, right?"

Tony grins, "Of course. Like I said, family. Howard was a lousy father, but Mom and Aunt Peggy taught me it was the family you made that mattered, not the one you were born to. Though I took that a little more literally than she intended. Say hello, Jarvis,"

"Hello, Captain Rogers, it's a pleasure to meet you at last." The voice from the ceiling was male, with a British accent and slightly formal phrasing. "I am an artificial intelligence, a computer program with the ability to think and grow the way a human can. Sir named me Just A Rather Very Intelligent System, or JARVIS."

Steve looked up, "Ah, a pleasure to meet you." He looks over at Tony, "I take it you waited so that Romanoff and Barton couldn't tell SHIELD about Jarvis?"

Tony nodded, "Not that I'm not proud of him, but I don't want JARVIS attacked, or worse enslaved by SHIELD or by what's hiding inside SHIELD. Peggy... Peggy thinks it's HYDRA. When she 'died' she was drugged by a member of SHIELD. She woke up having been put into Cryogenic suspension. They'd pull her out, try and break her, then put her back in again. At least some of the people torturing her were wearing HYDRA insignia."

“If she says they were, they were.” Steve forced himself to unclench his jaw. “Hydra. Still around. But Peggy escaped…”

Tony nods, “Yeah, they made a mistake and she escaped when I was just a kid. Howard set her up as a cousin on my mother’s side, Margherita Carbonell. She rescued me from being kidnapped by Hydra and rescued another victim at the same time. Of course, everyone said Hydra was gone and who is going to believe a pair of kids that read too many comic books." He ran a hand nervously through his hair. "Peggy’s the one who taught me the signs the Howlies used to use.”

“Do you know where she is now?”

Stark shook his head, “No, safer that way. A few weeks ago she was down with my mom in Florida, but she could be anywhere now. As soon as she saw images of the battle, you know she’d be heading here, Hydra or no. So… grab a shower, I’ll grab some you some clothes, leave them in the bedroom for you. JARVIS, order up a wardrobe for the Captain. No grandpa clothes. And get the lawyers on getting him declared alive, backpay, you know the plan.”

“Indeed sir, Operation Quick Thaw is already started. The lawyers are appallingly enthusiastic.” JARVIS’s tone was dry. “I’ve attempted to locate Dr Foster on Thor’s behalf, however SHIELD seems to have hidden her and blocked her phone number.”

Stark nodded, heading out the door. “Ok, remind me to have him record a message for her, and monitor for any…” The sound was cut off by the door closing, sound proofing that defeated even his super senses.

The shower was nothing like the ones at SHIELD. It was huge for starters, with multiple shower heads. You could vary the water pressure as well as the temperature, and the hot water never seemed to run out. There was a bar of lavender scented soap, and tears prickled behind his eyes. It smelled like Peggy. This was as close as he had gotten to finding her since he woke up. She was alive, she had allies, friends like Tony who considered her family. Who was going to help them get back together.

In the month since he woke up, this is as close as he had felt to being home.

When he finally emerged from the bathroom, there was clothing waiting on the bed. Underwear, some jeans that fit as tight as his old chorus girl outfit while still allowing movement, a black Tshirt with the same white star as his uniform, socks, steel toed boots, and a heavy black belt. It wasn’t his usual style, but it was clean and it looked like it would fit. He glanced at the tag of the shirt as he put it on. “JARVIS, what is Liberty LLC?”

“Ten years after the war, the rights to your image and Captain America reverted to you, Steve Rogers. Per paperwork you had signed with Howard Stark, those rights were vested in Captain America Enterprises, which later split into several related companies, one of those is Liberty. LLC stands for a Limited Liability Corporation. Ten percent of all profits from Liberty are donated to the American Civil Liberties Union, a nonprofit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." The remaining profits are either re-invested in the company or are moved to your general accounts.”

“I… Own a company?” The idea baffled Steve. He was a poor kid from Brooklyn, he knew nothing about running companies.

“Several companies are held in trust in your name, all relating to use of the Captain America image and story. Each company supports a different charity, including the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, the American Heart Association, and St Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital. While your liquid assets are not as great as Sir’s, you need not worry about supporting yourself. The amount of cash would be greater, but it was the judgment of the Starks and Ms Carter that you would prefer the money be used to help people than it be used to increase your own accounts. Were they in error?”

“No. No, that’s exactly what I would have wanted. Where is Stark right now?”

“Sir is talking with Agents Barton and Romanoff in the kitchen a floor up.”

Steve took the stairs rather than the elevator, and walked into the kitchen, nodding at the three. 

Tony grinned, “So, Steve, it seems that Legolas never registered his soulmark with SHIELD and neither did his soulmate, Agent Coulson.”

Barton looked over at Steve, flustered, “It’s more complicated than that. Having multiple soulmarks at the same time isn’t really accepted… there’s a lot of slut shaming. But the important part is… Coulson's mark says he’s still alive. Not in good shape, but alive.”

Steve said dryly, “Not like the fact that Fury lies is a surprise. But with how they were holding me, I can understand your worry. Hard to protest the treatment of someone who is officially dead.” He got the largest glass he could find in the cabinet, and poured himself a glass of milk from the fridge and grabbed a couple pieces of fruit.

Tony frowned. “Hungry already? Super soldier metabolism.” He got up, and started shuffling around in the kitchen. The fruit was snagged from Steve and chopped up. Some berries were tossed in, nuts, honey drizzled over it, and whipped cream added on top then the bowl and a spoon handed to Steve. “So yeah, they have to go back to SHIELD. I’m giving them some micro drives to attach to any computers they can. That should help me hack into SHIELD, and I’ll look for Coulson and for Dr Foster. Bruce and I will get a container together for Thor to transport the Tesseract back to Asgard along with Loki and that mind-bending staff of his.”

Natasha looked between the Steve and Tony, “SHIELD will want that staff. They’ll be furious about giving up the Tesseract, they’ll want the staff in return.”

Barton’s voice was grim, “I don’t want anyone with that staff. I’d throw it into the sun if I could. Stark, we do this, you better keep a couple rooms open for us here.”

Tony waved a hand, “Keep the guest room you’re in for now. If you wind up staying, I’ll give you two a floor of your own. Even put a room for Agent in it, though if he is just using it for a place to hang his suits, please don’t tell me. Some mental images I don’t need.”

Barton smiled a little, the first smile Steve had seen out of the man. It was thin, brittle, but it was a start. Steve looked over at Natasha, “So don’t tell SHIELD that we’re sending the staff back with Thor. Don’t mention it at all. If they ask where it is, just say that Tony has it under lock and key.” He could sense tension between Tony and Natasha, it was in how they held their bodies, how they watched each other out of the corner of their eyes. But whatever it was would have to wait. “Give Tony a call later this evening to ask how the plans to transport Loki are going, Tony, whenever you think things will be ready, add 16 hours to that before you give the figure to Natasha or Barton.”

Tony groused, “I’m blocking Fury’s number, so it will have to be one of you two calling.”

Natasha nodded, and stood, Baron reluctantly rising to join her. They looked better for the shower, clad now in loose Stark Industries exercise gear, but they were both exhausted and it showed in their step as they left. Tony poured himself a fresh cup of coffee, and looked over at Steve, “You going to be ok? Get some rest, watch some TV, help yourself to anything in the fridge except the chocolate ice cream. That’s Pepper’s.”

Steve asked, “Who is Pepper?” And Tony’s face lit up. 

“Pepper Potts, one of my two soulmates. Not that I was going to tell the deadly-duo that. SHIELD has been trying to find out who my soulmate is for years. Well, whole world has. I’ve offered to marry Pepper. Or Rhodey. Or have them marry each other. But they want to wait until all three of us can marry, even if that means never.” Some of the light went out of Tony’s face, “That… that doesn’t … I mean, the fact that I’ve got two soulmates, and one of them’s a guy…”

Steve reached over, grasping Tony’s shoulder. “I’m glad you’ve got people that love you. That you have two of them, just shows you have a lot of heart. I lived just a few blocks from the St George Hotel… it was a boarding house, not what you’d call a hotel today. And most of the men who lived there were gay. I know the two women who lived next door to Bucky and I wore tweed. It didn’t matter to me then, and it doesn’t matter to me now. What matters is that you’re good to each other.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not very good at the whole relationship thing, but I’d go through hell itself for either of them, and they know it.” Tony clapped his hands together. “So. Feelings. Ugh. But good talk, and I’m going to go work with Banner on the thing. You relax.”

Steve grinned, “Will do. And Tony, if you haven’t already, call your Mother, I’m sure she worries.”

Tony grinned as he complained, “Yes, grandpa. Nag, Nag, Nag.” And the elevator doors closed.

Steve poured another glass of milk, adding chocolate to it this time. He wandered back to Peggy’s room, looking over the bookshelves, and pulled out a copy of the Hobbit. But before Bilbo could even reach Rivendell, he had fallen asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hákarl is fermented shark. A delicacy in Iceland, it consistently makes lists of worst tasting food in the world.
> 
> Yes, Maria Stark is alive! With Peggy’s blood to work off of, Stark finished his version of the serum two years earlier. Maria wasn’t in the car when he drove the serum to SHIELD and the ‘car accident’ killed him.


	6. Farewell and Hello

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to send the Asgardians back to Asgard...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long, I was sick as a dog for a while. I don't understand how people claim drugs help creativity, all I can do on Nyquil is drool and sleep. I hope this was worth the wait!

Steve woke with a gasp, the wisps of a dream scattering from his mind. JARVIS’s voice came from above. “Captain Rogers, you are in Stark Tower. The date is Saturday, May 5th and the time is three fifteen am. Are you alright?”

He stood, stretching from sleeping on the couch. Was it bad that the couch was more comfortable than the bed he had slept in back at SHIELD? “Thank you, JARVIS. I… That helps. Is anyone else awake?”

“Not at the moment, Sir. There’s food in the kitchen, if you are hungry. Sir, had several meals delivered.”

Steve smiled hesitantly. “Thank you.” He moved into the kitchen, looking through the boxes, and picking out what looked like a thick stew. JARVIS directed him to the bowls, and he scraped it into a bowl and heated it up in the microwave. “JARVIS, I don’t trust the version of history SHIELD was feeding me. What do you think I need to learn about?”

There was a brief pause, and the tone when JARVIS spoke again was respectful. Steve was having a hard time not thinking of him as a person sitting in a room somewhere. “Given your history with the Howling Commandos, I would recommend the Civil Rights movement, the Women’s Right movement, and possibly the Gay Rights movement.” 

Steve nodded. His instructors had mentioned the first two only briefly, and sometimes in unpleasant tones. The third hadn’t been mentioned at all. “I think that’s an excellent place to start. Do you have books, or a tablet I could use?”

“There is a tablet in the living room that you can use, Captain. And I can put up images on the TV screen as well.” JARVIS sounded pleased. 

Steve had lost track of time by the time Tony stumbled into the living area, heading straight for the coffee maker which had switched itself on several minutes ago. Steve grabbed a disposable tissue to blow his nose, one of the few things about the future that wasn’t an improvement. “JARVIS, save this, we can pick up later.”

Tony looked worriedly over at Steve, though the way he was clutching the coffee pot it might have just been fear for his caffeine supply. “You ok there, Rogers? You look a bit… choked up.”

Steve coughed, or laughed or, “Ok? Not really…” He waved his hands at the TV vaguely. “Selma. Birmingham. Kent State. Stonewall. AIDS.” He cursed under his breath in Gaelic, then looked at Tony struggling to find words. “I missed so much. If I had been here, maybe Captain America could have done something. Meant something. SHIELD didn’t cover any of this.”

Tony took a deep breath. “Yeah, well, SHIELD sucks and it doesn’t paint America in a good light. So, you’re upset at how things went or…?”

Steve took a deep breath, echoing Tony. “I’m upset that people died. I’m upset that people are still dying. That the same hatred and bigotry and shit is still going on. I’m amazed at the bravery of people trying to make a change, and heartbroken that things haven’t changed more.”

Tony was watching Steve with an expression Steve couldn’t quite interpret. “You’re serious… Aunt Peggy was so right about you, you’re really just the scrawny Irish kid from the slums.”

Steve smiled sheepishly, “Never claimed to be anything more. USO gave me a speech coach, made me lose the accent. Army rushed me through officer’s training in England, but I’m still just Steve Rogers.”

Tony got a shit eating grin, “Ok, Uncle Stevie… The Assassin Twins are headed back in an hour or so… The jar we made for the Tesseract should be done fabricating shortly. And breakfast should be arriving any minute, so we’ll eat, go to Central Park to send Point Break and his crazy brother home, which will piss in Fury’s cheerios, and then you can get some time to see Central Park and meet up with Aunt Peggy. She sent a signal she’s in town, but no details.”

Steve grinned, “None needed. She knows where I’d go to meet her.” 

The elevator opened to show two carts loaded with covered dishes. JARVIS announced, “Sir, breakfast has arrived. I’ve informed Dr Banner and Mr Odinson.”

Steve got up to drag the carts over to the kitchen area, surprised when Tony joined him grabbing the second cart. He was less surprised when Tony grabbed several pieces of bacon. “Tony, why do you have a kitchen if you don’t cook?”

Tony looked surprised, “I do cook. I can cook. I cook for Pepper and sometimes Rhodey. But it takes time, and time is the one thing you can’t buy more of, and I have a lot to do with my time. But the kitchens are cooking for the relief workers, so it’s more efficient to have them send up meals, especially the way you and Point Break eat.”

Steve blushed at that. “It’s the serum… I heal faster, hit harder, all that, but I’m hungry all the time.” And it was incredibly rude of him, but he was going to help himself to some of the bacon and a muffin or two while they waited for the others. Unlike Tony, however, he was going to at least use a plate.

Bruce and Thor joined them shortly. Bruce ate a muffin, then a lot of the fruit salad that was in a bowl as well as some of the yogurt. Steve had had yogurt in Europe, and it wasn’t his favorite but it was good with the fruit. Steve didn’t recognize some of the things in the salad, and Thor wasn’t familiar with any of it, so talking about the food was a safe topic. Natasha and Clint arrived as they were finishing up. Tony looked over at them, “Fraid there isn’t much left, but I can call down for more.” There was a muffin left, Steve wasn’t sure the flavor, just that it wasn’t blueberry and like all modern muffins was the size of a softball. Modern servings were just so much larger than he was used to, and then he had to ask for a second portion and it just made him feel so rude.

Clint snagged the muffin. “We ate at SHIELD. Food’s no doubt better here though.”

Tony reared back in an exaggerated, melodramatic manner. “Of course it’s better. I’m insulted that you would even think there was a comparison.” 

Steve chuckled at that and stood, “If we’re all ready, then let’s send Thor and Loki back home.”

The leave-taking was to be at Central Park. The portal could cause damage apparently if not in an open space and Stark had tipped off a news crew, who arrived barely in time to get a shot of the group from a distance. Thor had the Scepter strapped to his back, and the container with the Tesseract inside in one hand. Loki, muzzled and manacled gripped the other side of the container. Thor looked upwards, and a glow enveloped the two Asgardians… then they were gone, a pattern of complex knotwork burnt into the grass.

Bruce and Stark headed out in a convertible, driving past the news crew. Stark waving and calling out to the reporter was more than enough distraction for the rest to slip away. Steve headed towards another section of the park, finding a bench in the same spot that he used to sit in as a kid. There was a path here, the trees arching up to form a green tunnel overhead. It had changed a little, the path was paved, the trees are taller, but in many ways it was still the same scene he had sketched time and time again, fascinated by the play of light and shadow. That view was so much a part of who he was as an artist, that he had known exactly what it meant when he saw it on the shoulder of –

“Hello, Steve.”

“Peggy…” He wasn’t sure later who had reached for whom first, Peggy swore it was mutual. All he knew was she was in his arms again, and he was hugging her tightly. The one person who truly saw him, who he didn’t have to handle like they were made of glass. And then they were kissing, and it was perfect, it was right, and she was holding him just as tightly as he was holding her. The kiss lasted forever, but not nearly long enough. “You’re alive. You’re alright.”

“I am now, darling. It’s been so long.” She was blinking, her eyes overly bright with tears Steve knew she’d be horrified to share in public. It had been years for her, decades. The mark on her was subtle, her hair as brown as ever if styled simpler, but there were faint lines at the corner of her eyes that hadn’t been there before, a small scar hidden in her hairline which must have been truly horrific at the time if it marked her despite the serum.

Steve swallowed hard, “A little over a month for me, Peggy, but still too long.” He couldn’t stop staring at her, afraid that he’d wake up and this would all be a dream. But if it had been a dream, she wouldn’t have changed at all, this was real. She was standing here, dressed in a cream colored blouse and a pair of jeans that looked positively sinful.

Peggy smiled sadly, “So much has happened, I will tell you all of it later. We need to move, SHIELD is looking for you. I’m sorry to throw you back into the war with Hydra.”

Steve exhaled, not quite a laugh. “It’s how we met, Peggy. I shouldn’t expect it to change now.” He kept one arm around his best girl, his soulmate, the other half of his heart, and she kept one arm around him as they walked towards the edge of the park and a future together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stick around... there's an after-credits scene!
> 
> Remember, Comments feed a writer's soul.


	7. After Credits Scenes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All Characters Belong to Marvel. Stan Lee Cameo is the guy behind the security desk at Stark Tower. The Avengers are a bunch of precious cinnamon rolls who deserve so much better than what the MCU has done to them. And now... after credits scenes!

\--------------------------- After Credits Scene 1 ---------------------------

As they emerged from the park, Peggy nodded to a van. “There’s our third wheel… he’ll drive us out of New York, then we can make plans.” She darted over, opening the side door of the van, and climbed in. 

Steve climbed in behind her, women in pants… definitely another thing on his list of why he liked the future. Then he saw the driver, and just froze, Peggy having to reach around him to close the door.

Bucky Barnes grinned. “Heya, Punk. Grab a seat. We’ve got a lot to catch up on.”

\--------------------------- After Credits Scene 2 ---------------------------

 

Jane Foster found herself questioning her life choices. Individually, each step along the way made sense, but when you strung it together it became ridiculous. The biker she was clinging to pulled over, and she hopped off the back, trembling a bit. New York was a disaster area, there was debris piled all around Stark Tower, and Darcy was calmly handing the bikers the money that she had promised them for getting them here past the police and national guard barricades.

Jane looked at Darcy as the younger woman guided her into the lobby were a little old man sat behind the security desk. “Darcy, this is crazy. No one knows where our equipment is, no one was expecting us in Trosmø, I don’t know how you got the tickets back to the states, then you bribed a bunch of Hell’s Angels to bring us to New York where no one is expecting us, and we have no idea where Thor is.”

A smooth male voice came from behind the two women, “Thor’s back in Asgard, and I promised him I’d look after you ladies.” They turned to find Tony Stark standing there with a fluffy haired man trying almost to hide behind him. 

Jane’s eyes went wide, “Doctor Banner? I’ve read all of your papers. I’m not sure if you remember me from Culver…”

Darcy turned to Stark with a smile, “Well, we’ve lost Jane unless a shirtless Thor or our lab equipment turns up.”

Stark peered over his sunglasses. “I have ten floors of lab space, that I was just about to show Bruce.” That got Jane and Bruce into the elevator, Jane lamenting her lost equipment as Stark promised her whatever she needed to rebuild it.

Darcy smiled as she trailed along silently behind the three. They were out of SHIELD’s grasp and maybe with Stark’s help they could keep it that way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who read this far! My first MCU fanfic, but I don't plan on it being my last.  
> Prequels are planned if people seem interested, Tony, Hawkeye, Peggy, Bucky, Natasha... there is so much backstory for this AU in my head.
> 
> Hugs and cookies to all my wonderful commenters! Please leave feedback and notes on what you might want to see.


End file.
